Emily (emily@athleticbusiness.com) joined the Athletic Business team in 2011, a natural transition from her previous work at PFP (Personal Fitness Professional), a B2B fitness industry brand, and Inside Wisconsin Sports, a consumer sports publication. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Emily continues to enjoy living in the city with her husband Derek, making cheese, drinking beer and biking to work, except during winter, when she doesn't enjoy much of anything.

A 19-year-old Air Force trainee at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland collapsed during a physical fitness training exercise on Monday. Following attempts by medical personnel to revive her, the woman, identified as Kelani Thomas of Troy, Ala., was taken to the San Antonio Medical Center and pronounced dead.

Of all the municipal recreation programs that suffered budget cuts during the Great Recession, perhaps no area has taken a bigger hit than aquatics. Public pools have never been a profitable line item in recreation budgets, bogged down by expensive initial construction costs and ongoing maintenance needs. Public pools drained their waters left and right to save on operational costs, and even with budgets rebounding, deferred maintenance has caused expenses to increase to the point where many programs have no choice but to close down indefinitely.

Thousands of children participated in a triathlon this past weekend in Jacksonville, Fla., despite reports that the pool used had failed a health inspection earlier in the week. But that’s okay, event and city officials say.

As part of the two-day conversion of EverBank Field to host swimming, biking and running for the 7th Annual First Coast Kids Triathlon, a portable pool was constructed on the site. The event was a success, despite reports that swimmers had to be pulled from the pool by lifeguards due to the absence of pool ladders.

Because the pool was temporary, city officials say it was not considered a public pool under the state’s Department of Health, and thus was not subject to the same inspection criteria. In particular, the water used for such pools is pumped in and out and not recalculated.

“They actually don't have guidelines to monitor portable pools, so we actually work with them to set up a structure that allows us to circulate the water and make sure that it's safe,” event director Tom Gildersleeve told ActionNewsJax.com.

Furthermore, while the status of portable pools for city inspection purposes is still a little murky, the event still had to fulfill the guidelines set forth by USA Triathlon.

“Our events are all sanctioned by USA Triathlon, which is the governing board underneath the U.S. Olympic Committee so there's a safety protocol we follow,” Gildersleeve said.

Such pools have been used at other kids triathlon events. Lifeguards were also on hand both in and out of the pool to monitor participants’ safety.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham drew national attention — and a great deal of anger locally — last fall when it announced it was dropping its football program due to cost concerns. A new report released this week, however, questions that decision, asserting that the sport did make money for the university and would continue to increase in value.

The state of California is poised to quell any further debate over whether “Redskins” is an inappropriate athletic team name once and for all. The California Racial Mascots Act, advanced to a state Assembly panel on Tuesday, would prohibit the use of the name by any public school beginning January 1, 2016.

“There is obviously a lack of respect when we allow teams to brand themselves with racial slurs,” said assemblyman Luis Alejo, the bill’s author. “The R-word was once used to describe Native American scalps sold for bounty, and in today's society it has become widely recognized as a racial slur.”

There are currently four public schools in the state that use the name Redskins for their athletic programs. The affected schools would not be required to cease all use of the name. Items such as yearbooks and newspapers would not longer be able to utilize the name, but to prevent financial hardship, schools would be allowed to keep uniforms and other materials bearing the name, provided they have selected a new name. Under the legislation, schools would be able to purchase up to 20 percent of uniforms with the old name until 2019.

“Tulare Union Redskins are part of a long and proud tradition dating back to 1890,” Sarah Koligian, superintendent of Tulare Join Union High School District, one of the four holdout schools, told SFGate. “Our school has worked closely with our local Indian tribes to include them in the discussion regarding how the Tulare Union Redskin depicts both pride and respect.”

The bill, approved last month by the Assembly Education Committee, was approved by the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media but must go through another committee before advancing to the Assembly floor.

“It’s a small thing we can do in California that is part of a national movement to phase out the use of racial slurs as mascots,” Alejo said.

The recreation center natatorium at Texas A&M University has been closed since April 6 while crews work to remove hundreds of migratory bats that have taken up residence after being displaced by renovations at Kyle Field.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have launched a program to integrate innovative technologies into the stadium and fan experience. The Dodgers Accelerator program, announced earlier this week, will provide 10 startup companies an opportunity to grow and build awareness for their products.

Climbing walls have become nearly as common as recreation centers on college campuses across the country, and the prevalence of public facilities dedicated to the sport has led to a generation of climbers for whom the walls and facilities built a decade ago just aren't cutting it any more. As facility operators look to revamp their existing walls to appeal to a more discerning consumer base — or to merely add the amenity — they're thinking more about the various aspects of a functional climbing destination.

In January, dozens of visitors complained of feeling sick after attending a basketball game at Roby High School gymnasium in Texas. Administrators went so far as to have the bleachers removed and tested for chemical residue before uncovering the culprit a couple of weeks later: a broken light bulb over the visitors' bleachers emitting UV radiation.

Nothing helps transition back into office life after the whirl and excitement of another Athletic Business Show quite like a three-day workweek (apologies to our audience in Canada!). But even as I look forward to a day of good food and family, I’m reminded of some of the new ideas shared among recreation professionals at a revenue roundtable seminar hosted by Jeff King and Ken Ballard of Ballard*King Consultants.

An abundance of sunshine made up for the slight chill in the air as AB Show attendees boarded the bus to University of Central Florida. Undeterred by the 7:30 am start time, the mix of tourists hailed from as far as Hawaii (5 hours behind) and Taipei (13 hours behind!) and was excited to see what Central Florida had to offer.

This article appeared in the November | December issue of Athletic Business. Athletic Business is a free magazine for professionals in the athletic, fitness and recreation industry. Click here to subscribe.

I can't think of a recent issue of Athletic Business that captures the feel of our industry quite as comprehensively as this one. No, we don't have any momentous, industry-changing topics this month, but what we do have speaks to the current environment of athletic, fitness and recreation professionals.

The National Park and Recreation Association's annual convention is underway this week in Las Vegas, Nev. After arriving Monday afternoon and getting my first taste of life in the City of Lights, I caught a brief glimpse of the sun and the strip before steeling myself for a day of windowless sessions in overly air-conditioned rooms.